I have several friends who are bilingual, and their families/friends from home are fluent in the language they know besides English. Most of the time these bilingual friends will post status updates in English, but sometimes they will switch to their native language. Usually they don't post in their native tongue unless the update is very happy or very sad. The only people who comment on their updates then are the friends and family from back home who speak the language, and the comments are usually in both languages.

My question is this: are they intentionally trying to target a set group of people and excluding another when they post in another language? In cases where I also speak that language/some of it and I see that they're sad/happy about something, would it be odd or intrusive if I commented on the status?

I believe you can use whatever language you choose on your Facebook, and it would not be odd if you comment on your friend's post in the language used in the original or in your primary language. The audience is whoever reads the friend's posts.

If you can read it, you can comment - this includes getting the statement translated in order to read it. If you put something out there where a person can access it and allow them to comment, they are free to do so, just like they could have made the comment only visible to certain people.

The audience is whoever understands it, either by talent or by a translator. It's really not about excluding anyone in particular as much as it's just that there are more than one language in the world and sometimes you want to use another one.

I speak a couple of languages personally. I tend to post mostly in my native language and sometimes in English and two other languages.I have friends from various countries too.

I don't deliberately exclude people by choosing one language over the other, it really isn't about them, it's about me. I don't want to rewrite all my posts with 3-4 different languages and I'm not gonna stick to just one language all the time.

It's completely fine to comment if you happen to understand it or have translated it if I want something to be private, I don't make it my status.

If you can read it, you can comment - this includes getting the statement translated in order to read it. If you put something out there where a person can access it and allow them to comment, they are free to do so, just like they could have made the comment only visible to certain people.

Agreed. Most of my FB status updates are in English, but occasionally I'll post one in Danish. This might be because I think it's only interesting for Danes, because I thought of a phrasing that sounds better in Danish than in English, or a myriad of other reasons. It always tickles me (in a good way!) when people whom I know don't speak Danish comment on them -- extra points if they've put their reply through a translator as well, so they reply in Danish

I have friends who do blog posts in more than one language (for example, someone I know only online is a Finn; he usually posts in English, but if someone comments in Finnish he replies in that language). I figure they're choosing based on who they most want to have understand, not trying to exclude the rest of us. After all, I'm not trying to limit my audience to native speakers of English.

So, if someone posts in Spanish and I understand, I may reply. If they post in Finnish or Swedish or Japanese, I just go on to the next thing.

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Any advice that requires the use of a time machine may safely be ignored.

I'm bilingual and I will purposefully post in my native tongue instead of English if it is something that I want to direct mostly at family members (many of whom don't speak English). Also if I'm posting something like "Happy (Native country holiday)" where it just feels wrong to post in English since it's a celebration in native country. I'll also sometimes post quotes or sayings in native language that would just sound plain weird in English.

I wouldn't be the least bit offended if another friend decided to comment on one of my different language statuses. Actually, I'd be kind of happy to see that they've picked up something.

I have a friend who carries on very long FB wall conversations in Tagalog with her friends from home. Two or three times, I've been curious enough to translate, but I don't find it exclusionary or offensive. I figure if she really wanted *my* commentary or opinion , she'd post straight to my wall or pick up the phone to call or text. FB status updates are just general missives in whatever language she cares to use at the time!

I have a lot of bilingual friends from when I lived overseas. Posts in another language are not a personal attack on you.

I never said that they were a personal attack on me. I just wanted to know if they intentionally wanted to target people who spoke that language and if I wasn't the intended target, would it be odd or rude for me to comment.

Even if you're not "the intended target", there is absolutely nothing rude in replying to those posts. If they didn't want you to, they would sent private messages or tweak their Facebook settings so as to exclude some people. You're fine to reply, and I'm sure they appreciate it.